Four days a week for the last seven months, before he took the bench at the historic courthouse on 11th Street, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Cook drove to the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and slipped into a music theory class.
He’s always prompt, his professor said. And he’s the best-dressed student in the room because he often heads straight to court after class.
“It’s clearly the first sitting judge that I’ve had in a music class,” said Kenyon Wilson, Cook’s music theory professor.
Cook, who turns 65 today, will retire Tuesday after 28 years on the bench. His two terms have seen high-profile cases like the bankruptcy of the Read House and Krystal Corp., taught him the ins and outs of more businesses than he can count and established him as a strong and fair presence in Chattanooga’s legal community.
“He means a tremendous amount to all of us,” Chattanooga Bar Association President Paul Hatcher said.